Claiming Her Billion-Dollar Birthright(21)
Author: Maureen Child

Her smile faded, but she forced it back into place. “I really am. I know it’s strange. I can hardly believe it myself, to tell you the truth. But it’s so gorgeous there, Dad.” Funny how easily that name spilled from her now that she knew her affection was welcome. “I don’t just mean the resort, but Colorado itself. It’s huge and open and so beautiful it’s almost hard to look at it. I hope one day you’ll come to visit me there.”

Clearly uncomfortable at the thought, he was quiet for a moment, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. “I’ll come. Don Jarrod’s ghost won’t keep me away from my daughter, Erica. I’m not going to risk losing you again.”

Her heart opened even further as love swept in, chasing away years of regrets and misery. “You won’t lose me, Dad. You can’t. I love you.”

He reached across the table and took her hand in his for a quick squeeze. “Does my heart good to hear that, I don’t mind telling you. But the most important thing is you’re happy, right?”

“I was….” How to explain to him what a mess she’d made of everything? She couldn’t actually confess to her father that she’d seduced a man who didn’t want her, after all. “What changed?”

She folded her linen napkin and set it on the table. Then sitting back in her chair, she said, “I fell in love.”

“And this makes you miserable?”

“No,” she said on a short laugh, “it made me happier than I’ve ever been before.”

“But…” Walter encouraged her to talk just by patiently waiting.

Smiling, she acknowledged, “You’ve still got the intimidation knack.”

“It’s a gift,” he said with a wink. “Now, tell me what’s wrong with this man that he doesn’t see what a wonderful girl you are.”

“There’s nothing wrong with him,” she said, Christian’s face rising up in her mind to taunt her. “He just doesn’t want me enough.”

“Well, why the hell not?”

“It’s complicated, Dad. I think he does care for me. But he won’t let himself.” Irritation spiked inside her and she had to take a deep breath just to calm herself. “So the question is, how am I supposed to live there and see him every day feeling the way I do?”

“What’s the alternative?” he asked briskly. “Run away? Hide? Pretend you don’t feel what you do?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

“Well, I do,” Walter said, standing to come around the table. He pulled her from her chair and stood her up in front of him. With the tips of his fingers, he tilted her chin up until she was looking directly into his eyes. “You’re a Prentice, Erica. And we don’t run. We don’t put our heads in the sand when things don’t go our way, either. If you love that dolt, then find a way to make him admit he loves you, too.”

Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly and sighed when Walter’s arms came around her with a fierce embrace.

“I love you, Dad,” she whispered and his embrace tightened in response.

“I love you, too, little girl,” he whispered. “Guess you’ll be leaving right away?”

She pulled back and smiled up at him. “I really should. The gala opens next week and there are a million details to see to—not to mention the fact that there’s a certain man I have to see and talk to.”

“Do I get to know his name?”

“As soon as I straighten him out, I’ll introduce you,” she promised, then gave him an extra hug for good measure. Grabbing up her purse, she raced for the door, but stopped dead when her father called out her name. “Yes?”

He wagged a finger at her. “Just don’t you forget who you are, little girl. You’re Erica Prentice. My daughter. And you can do anything you put your mind to.”

She grinned at him. “You’re damn right I can.”

Christian refused to live like this any longer. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Erica in days. For all he knew, she could have decided to forego her inheritance and move back to San Francisco. That thought drove spikes through his mind and heart. What if she didn’t return? What if she decided that staying at Jarrod Ridge would be too painful because he was an idiot?

His stomach felt like a ball of lead had settled in it, while at the same time, his chest felt hollowed out. He scrubbed both hands across his face and stood up. Turning, he faced the window and didn’t even see the spectacular view. Instead, he saw Erica as she’d been their last night together by the river.

Naked, open, holding her arms out to him, taking him into her body, her heart. He could see the warmth in her eyes and the soft smile wreathing her face. His insides twisted and his mouth dried up. He loved her.

He loved Erica Prentice.

And he’d not only let her walk away, he’d been ass enough to ruin what had been the best damn night of his life. The question now was, was he going to let that mistake stand? Or was he going to do everything in his power to correct it?

“Screw this,” he said out loud to no one. He turned and looked around the interior of his office. The one he’d worked so hard for—and all he saw was emptiness. In his mind, his future stretched out in front of him and that, too, was empty. Pointless.

What the hell good was the job of his dreams if the woman he needed wasn’t a part of his life?

Furious with himself for taking this long to realize what was the most important thing to him, Christian jumped up from the desk chair and marched out of the room. He needed to talk to the oldest Jarrod sibling and he knew exactly where to find him.

Twenty minutes later, he was searching for Blake Jarrod amid the throng of people wandering around the site for the gala. The man was out here somewhere directing the crews setting up. When he spotted him, Christian headed right at him.

“Christian,” the other man said with a nod of greeting. “What are you doing out here? Giving up law to come swing a hammer with us?”

“No,” he said, barely glancing at the crew. “Blake, I need to talk to you.”

“Sure,” he said, heading to a less crowded part of the lawn. He stopped and crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s this about, Christian?”

The only way to handle this was to jump right in.

“I’m resigning as family attorney as of today,” Christian said and felt a weight slide off his shoulders. Damn, it felt good to be a free man. He’d been living an indentured life and he hadn’t even realized it until just this instant.

All along, he had thought he was steering his own course. Plotting his own life and destiny. But in reality, Don Jarrod had still been in charge. Even from the grave. But not anymore. And never again.

“What?” Astonished, Blake reached out, grabbed Christian’s upper arm and dragged him a little farther away to make sure no one would overhear them. “You can’t resign. Are you nuts?”

“Not anymore,” he said, grinning. “And yeah, I can resign. Watch me.”

“We can’t run this place without you, Christian!”

“Not my problem as of today, Blake. Sorry, but this is how it has to be.”

“Sorry?” Blake threw his hands high and let them slap down against his thighs. “You’re sorry that you’re walking out just as we all get back and have to deal with mountains of crap?”

“You’ve got each other. You’ll do fine. This is your home, Blake.”

“It’s your home as much as it is ours.”

Christian looked around, letting his gaze scan the familiar grounds, the guests and the well-trained staff. True, this was his home. But it didn’t mean a damn to him without Erica. Decision made, he turned back to Blake.

“I’ll type up a formal letter and leave it with your assistant,” he said. “If you want, I can make some recommendations about who I think would work well here.”

“I don’t want your recommendations,” Blake muttered with a dark frown. “I want you here, doing your job. Like always.”

“Can’t do it, Blake,” Christian said. He wasn’t thinking about Blake. He was thinking about Erica. He had to tell Erica he loved her and that he was willing to risk everything in his life except her.

“You have to do it. We can’t afford to lose you.” Blake took a deep breath, bit back his frustration and demanded, “You’ve always been happy here, Christian. Where’s this coming from?”

“Things are different now.”

“Since when?” Blake’s eyes narrowed on him.

He hadn’t intended to say anything. But how could he not? Blake was a friend and the brother of the woman he loved. Why the hell should he hide his feelings now? He took a breath and plunged in.

“Since your sister.”

“Melissa?”

“No.” Christian laughed out loud at the stunned surprise on Blake’s face. Clearly he’d done a very good job of keeping his feelings to himself. “Erica.”

“Really?” Blake shook his head. “Huh. I didn’t have a clue.”

“Nobody does,” Christian told him. “That’s the point. I’ve been hiding how I feel about her because of my responsibilities here.”

“What?” Now Blake just looked confused. “Why would you do that?”

Christian sighed. “You know as well as I do how your father felt about what he called ‘fraternizing.’”

“Oh, for God’s sake—”

Christian kept going. “I get involved with your sister, I lose my position here and any shares I have in the company. The board of directors will take care of that at their next meeting.”

“So you’re just gonna walk away from everything you’ve ever known instead.”

“Rather than lose her? Yeah. In a heartbeat.”

Blake nodded and grinned at him. “I can see that. What you didn’t think about is, the Jarrod family won’t let you resign.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“No, but I can hire you again the minute you quit,” Blake told him. “And when I do, there’ll be no restrictions, Christian.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying what everybody knows. Don Jarrod was a hard man. I’m not him. And neither are my brothers.” Blake laughed aloud. “God, Christian, Melissa would kill us all if we let you leave over something like this.”

Christian shook his head as if he couldn’t believe how this conversation was going. He’d been prepared to lose everything to keep Erica. Now it seemed he was going to have it all. If he could convince the woman he loved that he deserved her.

Slapping him on the shoulder, Blake said, “We’ll write up a new contract between you and the Jarrod Resort whenever you’re ready.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I think that’s a first,” Blake told him with a laugh. “So you and Erica, huh?” His eyes went cool and serious for a moment. “I’ve had my issues with the new sister, but bottom line here is, she is my sister. So just to put you on alert—if you’re not actually planning to marry her—you won’t have a job to worry about. None of us will stand by and let anybody hurt her.”